questionable Jayco warranty support

[CraigBU]

I eagerly solicit advice from anyone that has experience with Jayco warranty coverage. On December 12 2020 we purchased a new (never been titled) Jayco Pinnacle from a Jayco dealer in Eastern PA. Last week I took the unit to our local Jayco dealer for warranty work and a roof inspection. The inspection results show cracks and holes in the roof sealant, a soft spot in the roof from water intrusion and missing caulking over most of the roof area. The dealer estimated the repairs to the sealant to be 10 hours and $2300. I faithfully inspect and document the condition of this unit every spring and fall and have maintenance logs to prove it. In order to support and facilitate the warranty claim, my inspection log and pictures of the roof sealant failures were submitted by the local dealer to the Jayco warranty department. In summary, Jayco’s warranty response is as follows:
• Jayco will cover 1 hour of the 10 hours submitted by the dealer.
• The 2/3 year warranty is from the mfg date, not the purchase date
• It is customers responsibility to inspect and maintain the roof (what good is a warranty if I do all of the work when a failure happens)
• The 20 year roof membrane warranty has nothing to do with these problems
• 10 hours for removal of the failed sealant and replacing it is excessive, the factory seals the unit in one hour.
• No mention was made by Jayco on repairing the soft spot in the roof
Jayco went on to elaborate and say that 10 hours is an excessive claim by the dealer for scraping off the old caulk and replacing it and letting it cure. In addition, the Jayco warranty person claims the factory seals the entire roof in one hour. Maybe this has something to do with why the unit is at the dealer for roof repair. I was also informed these issues were due to customer neglect despite the maintenance logs and climate controlled storage facility. We are not full timers and this unit is used approximately 2 moths of the year. The remainder of the time it is stored inside. It is Jayco’s belief the two years this unit sat on a dealers lot (prior to our purchase) and my assumed lack of maintenance are directly responsible for the roof failure therefore they are limiting their coverage to one hour.
When it was pointed out to the Jayco warranty person this unit is stored in a climate controlled building and is not stored outside in direct sunlight and there are maintenance logs verifying routine inspections it did not matter. Jayco has covered some warranty issues on this unit in the past but now they are stating it is past the warranty period but they will cover one hour. I do not understand how a unit can selectively be in the warranty period.
Does anyone out there have any advice? Before I pursue the legal route, I thought I would post this on the Jayco, THOR and competitors forums to solicit advice. Please give me your thoughts.

[Grumpy]

This has been discussed in detail before. The owners manual clearly states that the roof and all sealants are to be inspected and resealed every 6 months as needed and is not warranty coverage. You will also find the same wording used by most manufacturers. It can be put in the same category as a vehicle oil change or regular routine maintenance. If it sat on the dealer's lot for 2 years and they did not perform the inspections and resealing they would be the party responsible as well.

I totally agree that the dealer has grossly inflated the time it takes to inspect and reseal the roof. I've done many in an hour or so. There is usually never any need to remove the old Dicor, you just clean and reseal the areas with cracks or splits right over the old.

You said you document and inspect, how did you not see the missing caulk if it is that bad?

[goducks]

Every manufacture requires owners to inspect the roof regulalary. the fact that you bought it two years old/new would be the reason to have the dealer do a complete inspection of the whole TT before purchase.
It blows that this has happened but it is surprising that Jayco starts the warranty at the the build date. I've never heard of that before and have never experienced that with any of my RV's. Warranties have always started from date of purchased just like autos.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by goducks

Warranties have always started from date of purchased just like autos.

That is when they do start. I missed that in his original post, I think there was some mis-communication. Unless the dealer messed up.

Right from the owner's manual:

The Limited Warranty is activated only after Jayco receives a signed and dated “Warranty
Registration and Customer Delivery Form” from your dealer.

[DocBrown]

Did the dealer show you photos of the "missing" caulk?

Surprises me also that they are saying the warranty is from the manufactured date. Never heard that before. If that was truly the case, ask them why that was not disclosed when you purchased?

I wonder if this unit was sold as Used like they do with "Program" or "Executive" cars that have never been titled for private use even though they may have only a few hundred miles on them. The Used designation on those cars negates the warranty starting from date of purchase.

[CraigBU]

Thank you everyone for the advice and comments. Several points that readers need to understand that go beyond the "bad roof".
1. The roof was inspected every 6 months and there was no damage noted on the last inspection
2. The real problem is the inconsistency of the Jayco interpretation of the warranty. Either the warranty claim is valid or it isn't. The responses that I received from Jayco warranty were inconsistent and based on hearsay and opinion and were not backed up with written policy.
3 Is it really good practice to apply more caulk/sealant over the top of damaged area? I am an advocate of removing the bad and replacing it with good. Of course the factory can do it quicker when they are working with a clean fresh surface.
4 Who owns the units while they are waiting to be sold? Does the dealer own all of the inventory that is on the lot? i.e. is the inventory still owned by Jaco therefore they are responsible for making sure the terms of the warranty maintenance are complied with.
5 I realize I am fighting an uphill battle but is that any excuse to continually roll over and not try to pursue accountability? None of us like the situation but if we allow the situation to continue, we will have the same results. This is my last post. I am done

[Grumpy]

#1 Who did the inspection? However, that has nothing to do with a failure, if a leak started later it would not be a warranty issue, it is still routine maintenance.

#3 The best way is ETERNABOND tape, you only need to redo it about every 15 years. With that said I have never removed the old caulking when doing a reseal, because the entire area is never in question. It has always been spot touch up.

#4 the dealer or their bank. Jayco does not ship anything until they have a check in hand, that has always been their policy. They even stress that fact when you do the factory tour.

[Midnightmoon]

#3. Yes, you can apply self leveling lap sealant right over the old cracked or suspect area. The only time that I remove the old is if there is a bubble or soft spot that has developed in the sealant. Then, I will remove that area only and then reseal making sure that I over spread several inches beyond the removed area in all directions.

[Kim Gass]

We had some warranty and non warranty work done this last week
The radio has not worked since purchase but we never minded it much as we were not in an area with much radio reception this summer
And the stove would light electronically only sometimes.

The black tank valve was sticky.

Our unit is almost 2 years old. We were charged $13.00 for the black tank valve

Everything else was covered.. And the dealer also resealed the marker lights and inspected the roof.. Free.

I am sorry you had a very sad and frustrating experience.

[garywilson]

FlexArmor and you can stay off the roof.
They also fix the soft spots.
I got mine back last week... seems like their promo is no exaggeration.
My roof had just deteriorated- was getting gummy... no soft spots yet. I think FlexArmor is less expensive than original, certainly requires less maintenance.

[cekkk]

It is such a shame that Jayco has deteriorated from the excellent eagle I bought in 2011 to the miserable pieces of equipment that they allowed to ship to their dealers. They should change the name from Jayco to Thor 2.0.

[rodpod]

Originally Posted by cekkk

It is such a shame that Jayco has deteriorated from the excellent eagle I bought in 2011 to the miserable pieces of equipment that they allowed to ship to their dealers. They should change the name from Jayco to Thor 2.0.

Ain't it the truth. They used to be known as building a quality product and had a great reputation. I did a lot of research before i bought mine, but unfortunately it was one year too late. Thor had just gotten their hooks in in Jayco and it's been down hill since. Look elsewhere to purchase, but unfortunately they are all pretty much the same. Caveat emptor to be sure.

[dickhandsome]

Originally Posted by rodpod

Ain't it the truth. They used to be known as building a quality product and had a great reputation. I did a lot of research before i bought mine, but unfortunately it was one year too late. Thor had just gotten their hooks in in Jayco and it's been down hill since. Look elsewhere to purchase, but unfortunately they are all pretty much the same. Caveat emptor to be sure.

Joined up just to share my very similar story to Craigs. Hope thats OK. Bought a brand new 29.5 BHDS in 2019 first trip the slide in my bedroom leaked. It rained a lot that weekend and took us a couple of trips to figure out that it was a leak. The first indication was a pair of wet pants in the closet. Long story short, by the time I got to Jayco with the issue, they claimed it was no longer a warranty issue cause as Grumpy explained the seals were to be inspected and resealed as necessary. Spoiler alert they had been inspected, and were not in need of resealing. The shop I brought it to said it leaked do to missing butyl tape inside the slide itself. Back and forth with jayco and ultimately they refused to do anything until I contacted a dispute resolution firm they had on their website. It gets you in touch with a lawyer and you go thru a process to avoid going to actual court. In the end I took a "settlement" no where near the value of the repair. The fact that they fought tooth and nail for what was an actual manufacturing issue makes me sick. I promised them that I would relay my jayco experience every chance I get, so here we are. I've told this story about 10 times over the years. Its the only thing I can do, hopefully I've convinced someone to go a different direction.

[Jaydave]

Have had + and - results with jayco warranty, although I noticed that after my dealer replaced the warranty guy things got way better. New guy says you have to know how to word complaints.
I have had good luck with Route 66 repair coverage.

[Smlenze]

Originally Posted by dickhandsome

Joined up just to share my very similar story to Craigs. Hope thats OK. Bought a brand new 29.5 BHDS in 2019 first trip the slide in my bedroom leaked. It rained a lot that weekend and took us a couple of trips to figure out that it was a leak. The first indication was a pair of wet pants in the closet. Long story short, by the time I got to Jayco with the issue, they claimed it was no longer a warranty issue cause as Grumpy explained the seals were to be inspected and resealed as necessary. Spoiler alert they had been inspected, and were not in need of resealing. The shop I brought it to said it leaked do to missing butyl tape inside the slide itself. Back and forth with jayco and ultimately they refused to do anything until I contacted a dispute resolution firm they had on their website. It gets you in touch with a lawyer and you go thru a process to avoid going to actual court. In the end I took a "settlement" no where near the value of the repair. The fact that they fought tooth and nail for what was an actual manufacturing issue makes me sick. I promised them that I would relay my jayco experience every chance I get, so here we are. I've told this story about 10 times over the years. Its the only thing I can do, hopefully I've convinced someone to go a different direction.

Hi! I am having a similar situation with the a warranty repair where the back wall is separating from the roof and leaking. 2022 eagle that was turned in under warranty and Jayco is denying it because they insist I didn’t inspect and seal the unit?? We did. And there is no sealant even in that are. Can you tell me where the link was for mitigation with Jayco?

[chas111]

My dealer recently resealed roof (caulk and dicor), cleaned roof, and washed for $400.00.

[goducks]

Man I missed the boat.
$400 for roof cleaning and caulk touchup?
Sign me up.